


The Words Won't Come

by SociallyAwkwardFox (Maze_Runner_Fae)



Series: Tumblr Prompt Fills [22]
Category: Batman - All Media Types, DCU (Comics), Nightwing (Comics)
Genre: Alternate Universe, Assassin Mary Grayson, BatFam Find Out, Comfort, Gen, Secrets
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-04-16
Updated: 2017-04-16
Packaged: 2018-10-19 19:06:13
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,457
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10646151
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Maze_Runner_Fae/pseuds/SociallyAwkwardFox
Summary: anonymous asked: Could you do a fic where Mary Grayson was a spy/assassin and Dick totally knows & then comes across a document mentioning her by code name when the Batfam is with him, and he's awkwardly just trying to let on that that's his mom. And then someone recognizes him as looking a lot like the last boyfriend Mary had before she disappeared (he looks a lot like John Grayson, and Mary disappeared and left the life behind when she married him).





	The Words Won't Come

“Find anything?”

Dick chuckled under his breath as he flipped to another page filled with partially faded text and one worn black and white photograph in the upper left corner. “Still no, Steph. If anyone finds anything, I’m sure they’ll let you know the moment they do.”

“Why couldn’t these files be on the computer? Then Barbara could have worked her magic and we wouldn’t be stuck looking through all this crap.”

“I bet one of these folders is full of complaint cards. You could fill one out and give it to their HR department when we take them down.”

“Very funny, Dick. I’d rather give my complaint in the form of my boot to their faces.”

“We just have to figure out where they are, then you’ll get the chance. Want another stack?”

“No. I want to get out of this room! How many more boxes do we have to look through?”

“Twelve.”

“Kill me now.” With an exaggerated groan, Stephanie dropped her head on the table. “Give me more.”

“That’s the spirit!”

After pushing another stack of papers toward Stephanie, Dick went back to looking through the file in front of him. His eyes scanned the next couple of pages with disinterest, then froze on a familiar name on one of the pages. The beat of his heart picked up tremendously in his chest and his hands gripped tightly at the edge of the table. He quickly beat back the rising anxiety inside him to avoid tipping off the people surrounding him before he knew what to say.

For once, they were all too busy to pick up on his distress, giving him the chance to get his swirling thoughts together. Over the years, he thought a lot about this moment finally coming, but he never expected it to happen like this. A codename in a dusty file from some shady underground organization trying to get a foothold in Gotham never crossed his mind. Considering the things that normally happened in his life, it should have been expected and he should have come up with a plan for it. Now he was stuck staring at an open file with his mother’s old codename staring up at him and no idea how to tell the others.

“Did you find something?”

“What?”

Stephanie pointed at the file he had. “Did you find something? You’ve been staring at the same page for an eternity. It can’t be that difficult to read, unless you fell asleep reading it.”

“I didn’t fall asleep.”

“So, you did find something?”

“Just a codename for an assassin that used to work for them. Nothing that would help us find where they’re hiding out.”

“Anyone recent we could track down?” Despite the exhaustion in Tim’s voice, there was an underlying eagerness that probably had to do with the hope of no longer looking through files. “Just because they don’t work for them anymore, doesn’t mean they don’t know what they’ve been up to since they left.”

“No. They died a long time ago.”

“What was their name? Maybe digging up information on them will eventually lead us to someone that still works with them. It couldn’t hurt to try.”

“Cățelul Pământului.”

“What language is that?”

“Romanian. It’s from a myth.”

“That’ll make it much more difficult to dig up information on them, but Barbara might be able to think of a way to make things easier.”

Not knowing what else to do, Dick spoke without thinking. “I can help. This has some descriptions on what she looks like.”

“Really?” Jason’s chair dropped to the ground as he leaned forward to grab something out of one of his piles. “I found a bunch of pictures of some woman named Maria Bălan, but I couldn’t find anything else about her. Maybe they’re the same person. It would make sense for them to follow her around if she was one of their assassins that decided to cut ties. A few of them have a man in them. It could be the reason why she left.”

“Let me see them.”

The photos Jason found were handed to him without a second thought, as if what was on them wouldn’t confirm one of Dick’s greatest fears. Even with a hat covering most of her face, Dick immediately recognized the woman in the first photograph as his mother. Her familiar build and way of carrying herself, along with the long brown hair, made it blatantly obvious to him. The next photograph-a close-up of her face-confirmed what he already knew. Her stormy grey eyes looked up at him for the first time in over ten years and knocked his breath right out of his chest.

When he could finally breathe again, he flipped to the next photograph to find not one, but two of his parents in the crowd of people filling the picture. He quickly moved to the next photograph and found a better image of the two of them than the previous, but still not a good enough quality to see their faces well. The next gave him exactly what he’d been looking for-a clear view of both their faces. They didn’t look particularly happy in the picture, but how could they when they knew someone was tracking their every move?

Letting out a shaky exhale, Dick placed the photographs down on the table and continued to stare at his parents’ faces. They looked so young compared to how he remembered them looking. No grey tinged their hair and no lines were etched into the corners of their eyes or mouths. There was a suspicion in their eyes Dick never remembered seeing them have, but it was them. They were his parents.

“That guy kind of looks like you.” Stephanie’s voice broke him out of his trance and back to present. “Black hair and blue eyes. Your noses look kind of similar, too.”

“A little. I’ll be right back. Bathroom.” Before anyone could say anything, he shoved away from the table and hightailed it out of the Cave.

* * *

 

The hand towel felt soft against his skin and momentarily distracted him from the thoughts running around in his mind. He knew it would be difficult to tell the others about his mother’s past-the past he didn’t even know of until after she died-but he never imagined it being this difficult. The words should be easy enough to say, he just didn’t want to have to say them. They felt heavy on his tongue and he couldn’t take them back once he said them. Once they were out, that was it.

With a heavy sigh, he placed the towel back on the rack and looked at his face in the mirror. He appeared more exhausted than be remembered looking before he came across his mother’s connection to this organization. Maybe it was all in his mind or maybe the stress of the situation was already getting to him. Either way, it didn’t matter the cause because the others would need his help to take them down.

After taking one more calming breath, he opened the door and immediately came face to face with Stephanie. “Took you long enough.”

“Did they find something?”

“I don’t know. I’ve been waiting for you.”

“Why?”

“Really? I’m not an idiot and the others aren’t either. They’ve probably figured it out by now.” Stephanie slide down the wall to the ground, then patted the ground next to her and waited for him to sit down before she continued. “We’re not going to think any less of you because your mom killed people. Maybe she didn’t have a choice or she did, but at least she stopped. From the way you talk about her, she was a good person and she loved you. That’s all that matters.”

“I know, but I didn’t know how to tell any of you. It’s not the easiest thing.”

“We know. We all know how hard it is to tell people about the awful things your parents have done, but it’s us. My dad was a villain, Cass’s mom is an assassin, Jason’s mom got him killed, Tim’s parents were absent most of his life, and I don’t even have to mention Damian’s parents.”

A low chuckle slipped through Dick’s lips. “You’re right. I just never thought of it that way.”

“I know, but it doesn’t matter anymore. It’s out there and I don’t see you any differently and none of the other will either. It’s time to move on to finding these assholes because I want to give them that boot to their faces, then take a week-long nap.”

“I did promise you’d get to do that.”

“Yes, you did. Now, get up and come help us find these assholes.”

“Coming!”

**Author's Note:**

> Hope you all enjoyed! You can find me on Tumblr ([SociallyAwkwardFoxWriter](http://sociallyawkwardfoxwriter.tumblr.com/)) and ask questions, stay up-to-date on what I'm working on, or anything else Tumblr related.


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